Each time I read or hear the general media referring to “assault firearms,” I cringe. Why? Because many of them have little or no idea of what they’re talking about. The term “assault weapon” is an arbitrary (and politicized) phrase used all too often by the media to describe a collection of semi-automatic firearms that outwardly only “appear similar” to those used by the military but are not alike in actuality.On April 18, 2007 in an interview, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (NY), sponsor of the bill “Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007” spoke on the Virginia Tech massacre and her proposed reauthorization of the Assault Weapons Ban. Asked to explain the need to regulate barrel shrouds, one of the many provisions of the Act, she responded that more importantly the legislation would ban large capacity "clips" used in the Virginia Tech massacre and that the class of guns chosen were those used by gangs and police killers. However, she apparently either never learned the facts or else was highly uninformed about the very firearms she was trying to ban.The Virginia Tech shooter did not have high capacity magazines. They were of the legal, 10-round variety. After admitting that she did not know what a barrel shroud was, an item which she was so adamant to see banned, McCarthy ventured a guess, "I believe it is a shoulder thing that goes up". Actually a barrel shroud is a ventilated covering attached to the barrel of a firearm that partially or completely encircles the barrel, preventing burns when the barrel gets hot from rapid or fully automatic firing.The misleading phrase “assault weapons” has been used primarily in relation to a specific expired gun law that was commonly known as the “Assault Weapons Ban”, “Clinton gun ban”, or “1994 crime bill.” On March 2, 2004, following the bill’s sunset date, it was voted down 8-90. It’s worthwhile to note that The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the "assault weapon" ban as well as other gun control schemes, and found "insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence.It is a common misconception that the assault weapons ban restricted weapons capable of fully automatic fire, such as true assault rifles and machine guns. Fully automatic weapons were unaffected by the ban, although they have been primarily banned and heavily restricted by permit since the National Firearms Act of 1934. Most of these firearms being described as “assault weapons” have physical appearances similar to their military look-alikes, but there the similarity ends.
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